What is a Crowding?
Crowding affects the positioning of your teeth as due to the small structure of the jaw, the teeth cannot find enough space to grow and come off as displaced or rotated.
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Crowding
Understanding dental crowding by differentiating and treating this malocclusion
A proper bite is characterized by the correct alignment of teeth, ensuring they fit snugly within your mouth. In a typical bite, the upper set of teeth gently touches the lower set without any overlapping. However, dental crowding presents a different scenario.
Dental crowding is another form of teeth misalignment, occurring when there is insufficient space within the mouth for permanent teeth to grow properly. This condition results in teeth overlapping or being slightly rotated, leading to various dental challenges.
Causes
- Crowding can be a result of larger teeth. Some people genetically inherit larger teeth than the jaw which causes teeth to compete for space and grow over each other.
- Genetically inherited smaller jaws can also be a cause for dental crowding as there is no space for the permanent teeth to grow so they overlap each other.
- Losing a baby tooth earlier can also result in dental crowding as the other teeth move into the space previously occupied by that tooth.
- Impacted permanent teeth can also cause dental crowding. If baby teeth loosen up but then tighten back up into the gums, the permanent teeth cannot properly erupt. If not removed on time, it causes teeth to overlap each other.
- Crowding can also occur later in a person’s life. It can happen due to the weakening of the jawbone. In adults, overlapping can be seen among the bottom front teeth.
The following habits can result in the development of a crossbite among children
- Thumb Sucking
- Tongue Thrusting
- Excessive Use of a Pacifier
- Bottle Sucking
- Teeth Pushing
- Early Milk Teeth Loss
The following habits can result in the development of a crossbite among children
Thumb Sucking
Tongue Thrusting
Excessive Use of a Pacifier
Bottle Sucking
Teeth Pushing
Early Milk Teeth Loss
Effects
There can be several reasons behind dental crowding. It can be due to improper growth of teeth or even because of a genetically inherited smaller jaw or larger teeth.
Mere overlapping of teeth might not look like a huge problem however, it possesses great risks to your oral health.
- Dental crowding can result in bad breath as it becomes difficult to properly brush or floss your teeth due to their overlapping. Bacteria lingering between the teeth can be a serious concern for your confidence.
- Teeth play an important role in forming sounds along with the tongue but if your teeth overlap inside your mouth, the tongue will not be able to move freely which can result in a speech defect.
- Due to crowding your bottom teeth can protrude further and rub against the front teeth. This can damage tooth enamel and causes serious harm to your teeth.
- It becomes difficult to properly brush or floss your overlapping teeth which can turn the lingering bacteria into plaque which results in the development of gum diseases.
- Due to crowding your teeth can protrude further which besides being unaesthetic can cause serious jaw aches and difficulty while chewing.
Treatment
In case of severe crowding, your doctor might need to extract a few teeth from the back, to make space for the other teeth to move into their position.
OrthoPath Clear Aligners can treat crowding by widening the arches which will make the jaw move out. It can cause expansion inside the mouth as the teeth will come out too. There will be more space for the teeth to be aligned in a proper position.
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